Shoe rack cabinet

ABSTRACT

A shoe rack cabinet for holding shoes in a generally vertical disposition consists of a cabinet within which are slidably mounted a plurality of shoe rack means. The latter means are adapted to be slid in and out of the cabinet to provide temporary storage and to facilitate ready access to the shoes on the shoe rack means. Suitable shoe holder elements are mounted on the shoe rack means to support shoes in a generally vertically disposed position. The shoe rack cabinet of the present invention is particularly adaptable for use at the entrances to homes to facilitate removal of shoes upon entering the home.

United States Patent 1 3,563,390 [72] Inventor David Kim 1,546,2767/1925 Woltz 211/945 82 Central Ave, Rye, N.Y. 2,326,064 8/1943 Pittman.312/183 [2]] Appl. No. 867,665 2,606,666 8/1952 Gray 211/94.5X [22]Filed Oct. 20, 1969 2,866,559 12/1958 Byme 211/35 [45] Patented Feb.16,1971 2,941,659 6/1960 Thrower 211/34X Primary Examiner Nile C. Byers,Jr. Attorney-Frank J. Jordan [54] ABSTRACT: A shoe rack cabinet forholding shoes in a gFlgs.

generally vertlcal dlsposltlon consists of a cabinet within U.S.

are mounted a plurality of shoe rack means Ann/o8 The latter means areadapted to be slid in and out of the (Search t u 34, cabinet to providetemporary torage and to facilitate ready 5 3 3 3 access to the shoes onthe shoe rack means. Suitable shoe holder elements are mounted on theshoe rack means to sup- [561 References Cmd port shoes in a generallyvertically disposed position. The shoe UNITED STATES PATENTS rackcabinet of the present invention is particularly adaptable 736,0038/1903 Orrick 21 1/34X for use at the entrances to homes to facilitateremoval of shoes 1,404,270 l/l922 Carr 211/34 upon entering the home.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 m m' m m Lbs Fig. 3.

ENVENTOR.

David Kim an 4; WW

ATTORNEY SHOE RACK CABINET BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Virtually alloriental houses, hotels, churches, temples and restaurants provide forstoring families and guests shoes at the entrances since it is anoriental custom to remove shoes before entering such buildings. Removingshoes at the entrance of such buildings has merit from the standpoint ofsanitation since it is one way to separate the living rooms from thestreets. Removing ones shoes also enhances relaxation. The custom ofremoving shoes at entrances to homes in the orient begun upon the adventof shoes and it will probably continue as long as the streets are not asclean as the living rooms. Since the end of World War II there has beena great influx of Westerners to the orient. As a result, this custom ofremoving shoes before entering a living room has widely been introducedto the West and practiced. Since there are no convenient facilities forpeople to remove shoes at the entrances of Western houses, theimpracticality of doing so outweighs the persons desire to remove shoes.Thus, there exists a need for a shoe removing facility at an entrance ofWestern houses.

Accordingly, an object of this invention is to provide a cabinet fortemporarily storing shoes but which is also provided with slidable shoeracks which may be easily pulled out of the cabinet to facilitate readyaccess to all of the shoes disposed on the shoe rack.

Another object is to provide a slidable support for a shoe rack whichwill adapt the latter to be pulled out of the cabinet to the extent ofexposing all of the shoe-holder elements but which may be pushed backinto the cabinet whereby doors on the latter may be closed and thecabinet will appear as a decorative item of furniture.

Additional objects and advantages of the invention will become apparentduring the course of the following specification when taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS DETAILED DESCRIPTIGN Before explainingthis invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention isnot limited in its application to the details of construction andarrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings, since theinvention is capable of being practiced or carried out in various ways.Also it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employedis for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

Referring to the drawings, FIG. lshows a shoe rack cabinet constructedaccording to one embodiment of the invention. The shoe rack cabinet 10is generally rectangular and has sidewalls 12, 14, a top wall 16, bottomwall 18, and two doors 20, 22 suitably hinged at 21 and 23 (FIG. 2) tothe sidewalls l2 and 14 respectively.

Included in the cabinet 10 are a' pair of shoe racks 24, 26. Althoughonly two such racks are shown in the drawings, any number of racks maybe provided as desired. Each rack 24 and 26 is slidably mounted in thecabinet whereby such racks may be moved in and out of the cabinet 10.The racks 24 and 26 are identical and accordingly, only the rack 26 willbe described in detail.

The rack 26 consists of a pair of spaced side supports 28 between whichare mounted a plurality of spaced rods 32.

Although only three rods 32 are shown in the drawings, it will beunderstood that any number of rods may be provided as desired. Each rod32 has suitably affixed thereto a plurality of spaced shoe-holderelements 34 which may have a configuration in the form of an inverted Uwherein each leg of the U has a right angle bend adjacent the end. Theright angle bends result in two relatively short extensions 36, 38 whichare generally perpendicular to the general plane of the U. The ter'minal ends of the extensions 36, 38 are suitably secured to the rod 32in the manner shown in the drawings so that the main part of eachshoe-holder element 34 will be generally disposed in a vertical planespaced from a vertical plane in which the associated rod 32 iscontained. Accordingly, a shoe may be readily placed on the shoe'holderelement 34 wit with the latter fitting into the main body of the shoe asthe heel portion is disposed below the general level of the rod 32. Theshoe holder element 34 may be tapered slightly, that is the two legs ofthe U may converge towards the connecting bridge of the U, to facilitateplacement and removal of a shoe from the shoe holder element 34.

Each of the side supports 28 is adapted to be mounted for rollingmovement relative to the sides of the cabinet. To this end, the sidewall12 of the cabinet has four spaced rollers 40, 41, 42, 43 each suitablymounted on short stub shafts secured to the inside of the cabinet wall12. Mounted for slidable movement between the spaced rollers 40, 41 and42, 43 is a slide member 46. The latter may have longitudinal edgeswhich are circular in cross section in order to be accommodated in theconcave surfaces about the periphery of the rollers 40-43. It will beapparent, therefore, that the slide member 46 will be supported on therollers 40-43 as the slide element 46 is slid in or out of the cabinet10.

The slide element 46 has a pair of spaced longitudinal openings 48, 50each of which is adapted to receive a roller 52, 54 suitably mounted onthe side of the previously described side support 28. The rollers 52, 54are rotatable about horizontal axes and may be supported by suitableshort stub shafts projecting from the side of the side support 28. Therollers 52, 54 each have a concave surface about the periphery thereofwhereby the smallest diameter of the rollers 52, 54 is just slightlyless than the width or height of the openings 48, 50 and the largestdiameter of the rollers 5.2, 54 is larger than the width of the openings48, 50. Accordingly, the rollers 52, 54 will roll in said openings onthe edges of the latter without falling out. The longitudinal edges ofthe openings may be circular in cross section. One end portion of eachopening 48, 50 may be slightly enlarged to facilitate assembly of therollers 52, 54 in the respective opening 48, 50.

From the above description it will be seenthat the rollers 40-43 supportside support 28 and the latter in turn support the rollers 52, 54mounted on the shoe rack 26. Accordingly, the shoe rack may be slid outto the position shown in FIG. 4 wherein the slide members 46 have slidout relative to the cabinet sidewalls 12, 14 and the side supports 28have slid out relative to the cabinet sidewalls l2, l4 and also relativeto the slide members 46. It will be apparent, therefore, that the shoerack 26 may be pulled practically all the way out of the cabinet tofacilitate full utilization while still having adequate cantileversupport when it is in its full pulled out disposition as shown in FIG.4.

Although only one shoe rack slide support assembly has been described,it will be understood that both sides of each shoe rack 24,25 aresupported in the same manner.

As may be desired, additional shoe-holding means may be I provided onthe insides of the doors 20, 22. Such means may comprise suitabletapered pockets 56 made of a flexible material, for example plastic orfabric. The pockets 56 are adapted to receive vertically disposed shoesand therefore are open at the top and bottom. A brush 53, shoehorn 60,and other implements (not shown) may also be mounted on the cabinetdoors or in the cabinet.- A shoe rest 62 may be included on the front ofthe cabinet to assist people who may desire to brush or polish theirshoes. The shoe rest 62 may be movably or detachably mounted to disposeit out of sight when not in use. For example, it may be mounted on apivot support 64 so that it can be pivoted to a position completelydisposed out of sight underneath the bottom wall 18 of the cabinet whennot in use.

While preferred embodiments of the invention have been shown anddescribed, it will be obvious that numerous omissions, changes andadditions may be made in such embodiments without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A shoe rack cabinet for holding shoes in a generally verticaldisposition comprising enclosure means having a pair of verticallydisposed sidewalls, a plurality of shoe rack means in said enclosure,operable means for sliding said shoe rack means on the sidewalls of saidenclosure means between closed and extended positions, said shoe rackmeans having a plurality of shoe-holder elements for holding shoes, saidshoeholder elements being mounted between a pair of shoe rack sidesupports, said operable means comprising roller means mounting said sidesupports on said cabinet sidewalls for sliding movement between saidclosed and extended positions.

2. A shoe rack cabinet according to claim 1 wherein said operable meanscomprises a slide member, said roller means comprising a first set ofrollers slidably supporting said slide member on said cabinet sidewallsand a second set of rollers slidably supporting said shoe rack sidesupports on said slide member, thereby adapting said shoe rack means tobe pulled out to its fully extended position to facilitate ready accessto all of said shoe-holder elements on said shoe rack means while stillmaintaining firm support for the extended shoe rack means.

3. A shoe rack cabinet according to claim 2 wherein said first set ofrollers each have a concave surface about the periphery thereof.

4. A shoe rack cabinet according to claim 3 wherein said slide memberhas longitudinal edges having at least a partial circular cross section,said longitudinal edges being engaged within the depression of theconcave surfaces of said first set of rollers.

5. A shoe rack cabinet according to claim 2 wherein said second set ofrollers are mounted on said shoe rack side supports, said slide memberhaving a pair of longitudinally extended openings in each of which aroller of said second set of rollers is accommodated.

6. A shoe rack cabinet according to claim 5 wherein said second set ofrollers each have a concave surface about the periphery thereof, saidlongitudinally extended openings in said slide member having atransverse width greater than the smallest diameter of said second setof rollers but less than the larger diameter of said second set ofrollers.

7. A shoe rack cabinet according to claim 6 wherein the longitudinaledges of said openings in said slide member have at least a partialcircular cross section, said last-mentioned longitudinal edges beingengaged within the depressions of the concave surfaces of said secondset of rollers.

8. A shoe rack cabinet according to claim 1 wherein said shoe rack meanscomprises elongated rods to which said shoeholder elements are secured,each of said latter elements being generally in the form of an invertedU, each leg of said U having a right angle bend defining shortextensions generally perpendicular to the general plane of the U, theterminal ends of said extensions being secured to said rod whereby eachshoe rack element is disposed in a generally vertical plane spaced froma vertical plane in which the associated rod is contained.

9. A shoe rack cabinet according to claim 9 wherein the U of said shoerack elements converge as the connecting bridge of the U is approached.

10. A shoe rack cabinet according to claim 1 further comprising a footrest device on said cabinet, and means for moving said foot rest deviceto dispose it out of sight.

1. A shoe rack cabinet for holding shoes in a generally verticaldisposition comprising enclosure means having a pair of verticallydisposed sidewalls, a plurality of shoe rack means in said enclosure,operable means for sliding said shoe rack means on the sidewalls of saidenclosure means between closed and extended positions, said shoe rackmeans having a plurality of shoe-holder elements for holding shoes, saidshoe-holder elements being mounted between a pair of shoe rack sidesupports, said operable means comprising roller means mounting said sidesupports on said cabinet sidewalls for sliding movement between saidclosed and extended positions.
 2. A shoe rack cabinet according to claim1 wherein said operable means comprises a slide member, said rollermeans comprising a first set of rollers slidably supporting said slidemember on said cabinet sidewalls and a second set of rollers slidablysupporting said shoe rack side supports on said slide member, therebyadapting said shoe rack means to be pulled out to its fully extendedposition to facilitate ready access to all of said shoe-holder elementson said shoe rack means while still maintaining firm support for theextended shoe rack means.
 3. A shoe rack cabinet according to claim 2wherein said first set of rollers each have a concave surface about theperiphery thereof.
 4. A shoe rack cabinet according to claim 3 whereinsaid slide member has longitudinal edges having at least a partialcircular cross section, said longitudinal edges being engaged within thedepression of the concave surfaces of said first set of rollers.
 5. Ashoe rack cabinet according to claim 2 wherein said second set ofrollers are mounted on said shoe rack side supports, said slide memberhaving a pair of longitudinally extended openings in each of which aroller of said second set of rollers is accommodated.
 6. A shoe rackcabinet according to claim 5 wherein said second set of rollers eachhave a concave surface about the periphery thereof, said longitudinallyextended openings in said slide member having a transverse width greaterthan the smallest diameter of said second set of rollers but less thanthe larger diameter of said second set of rollers.
 7. A shOe rackcabinet according to claim 6 wherein the longitudinal edges of saidopenings in said slide member have at least a partial circular crosssection, said last-mentioned longitudinal edges being engaged within thedepressions of the concave surfaces of said second set of rollers.
 8. Ashoe rack cabinet according to claim 1 wherein said shoe rack meanscomprises elongated rods to which said shoe-holder elements are secured,each of said latter elements being generally in the form of an invertedU, each leg of said U having a right angle bend defining shortextensions generally perpendicular to the general plane of the U, theterminal ends of said extensions being secured to said rod whereby eachshoe rack element is disposed in a generally vertical plane spaced froma vertical plane in which the associated rod is contained.
 9. A shoerack cabinet according to claim 9 wherein the U of said shoe rackelements converge as the connecting bridge of the U is approached.
 10. Ashoe rack cabinet according to claim 1 further comprising a foot restdevice on said cabinet, and means for moving said foot rest device todispose it out of sight.